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Cyclist killed in collision with bus latest in long list of accidents

Saffron Howden

The Sydney cycling community has been struck by a spate of horrific road accidents, including two deaths in as many weeks.

On Thursday night, police were still trying to identify a man killed in a collision with a bus off Military Road in Neutral Bay just before peak hour traffic set in.

The Sydney Buses vehicle was turning left onto Ben Boyd Road opposite the Oaks Hotel when it hit the cyclist.

Police said the man was not carrying any identifying documents and his features were difficult to make out as a result of severe injuries to his head and face.

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Just hours later, there was another collision between a man on a pushbike and a car on Sydney Road at Manly.

The cyclist was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and police were still investigating late last night, a police spokeswoman said.

On Wednesday morning, an Australia Post delivery truck and a 27-year-old man on his bike crashed on the Princes Highway at St Peters. The rider was left with two broken legs and was trapped under the truck for more than an hour before emergency service personnel freed him.

Over the Easter long weekend, a 76-year-old cyclist was killed at Mosman in a collision with a Mercedes on Medusa Street, near Spit Road.

And in March, a riding group was hit by a car on Southern Cross Drive, sending six cyclists to hospital with head, limb, and spinal injuries.

But the road accidents have not been confined to Sydney. On Thursday morning in Newcastle, a man aged in his 40s was riding through a roundabout when he was clipped by a silver Commodore driven by a woman travelling in a different direction. The rider was taken to hospital with a fractured ankle.

Following the death of the 76-year-old on Easter Saturday, cycling advocacy group Bicycle NSW reiterated its support for a campaign known as "a metre matters".

The campaign is lobbying for laws requiring a minimum distance of one metre from a cyclist when a vehicle passes in speed zone of 60 kilometres an hour or less - and 1.5 metres in zones above 60 kilometres an hour.

Hours before the cyclist was killed at Neutral Bay, the 2014 "Fatality Free Friday" campaign was launched at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Established by the Australian Road Safety Foundation, the day is held on the last Friday in May.